Networking

Networking, in the world of computers, is the way of linking two or more computing devices together for the purpose of sharing data. Networks are built together with computer hardware and computer software.

Categories of networks

1. Area Networks: This is a type of network according to the geographic area it spans. Local area networks (LANs), for example, typically span a single home, school, or small office building, whereas wide area networks (WANs), reach across cities, states, or even across the world. The Internet is the world's largest public WAN.
2.  Network Design: The two basic forms of network design are called client/server and peer-to-peer. Client-server networks feature centralized server computers that store email, Web pages, files and or applications. In peer-to-peer network, all computers tend to support the same functions. Client-server networks are common in business and peer-to-peer networks are common in homes. A network topology represents its layout or structure from the point of view of data flow. Common types of network topologies include bus, star, ring networks and mesh networks.
3. Network Protocols: Communication languages used by computer devices are called network protocol. Popular protocols include TCP/IP, the most common protocol found on the Internet and in home networks.
4. Home Networking: Home networks belong to ordinary homeowners, people often with little or no technical background. Various manufacturers produce broadband router hardware designed to simplify home network setup. Home broadband routers allow devices in different rooms to efficiently share a broadband Internet connection, enable people to more easily share their files and printers within the network, and help with overall network security.
5. Business Networks: Businesses often have additional communication, data storage, and security requirements that require expanding their networks in different ways, particularly as the business gets larger. Companies with buildings in multiple locations utilize wide-area networking to connect these branch offices together. Larger companies also maintain their own internal Web sites, called intranets to help with employee business communication.

Networking Industry Current Trends

The software defined networking industry is growing as one of the most promising industries as it is providing network operators with better control over network infrastructure, thus allowing optimization and modification, and reduction in overall cost. With the use of software defined networking i.e. SDN, network operators can build their network infrastructure while incumbent vendors and emerging players can develop products for operators and enterprises.

The SDN market is growing in demand as it is offering a number of advantages like increased flexibility, improved performance, and simplified operations among others.

Major Networking Industry Players

Some of the major networking industry players are Cisco, Fatpipe Networks India Ltd i.e. FATP, GTL Infrastructure Ltd i.e. GTLI, Integrated Digital Info Services Ltd i.e. ICNET, and MRO-Tek Ltd i.e. MROTK in India.